TIME TO REPEAL CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY

Democrats claim to be defenders of Social Security and Medicare.
However, President Obama joined with Republicans to create some the worst
cuts ever in the budget for running these vital programs.

The result has been a social disaster of epic dimensions.

Last year, 10,000 people died waiting for social security benefits.
And in the last two years, nearly 19,000 died. The wait for benefits
has soared from around 350 days in 2012, to nearly 600 in 2017 (The Washington Post).
The disability backlog has now reached more than 1 million Americans,
with an average wait of 2 years — longer than some have to live. About
10.5 million people get disability benefits from Social Security, and an
additional 8 million get disability benefits from Supplemental Security
Income. The disability program is smaller than the Social Security
giant's retirement program, but still, the agency paid out $197 billion
in disability payments last year.

These record wait times are no surprise, given the fact
that the Social Security Administration's (SSA) budget has been cut
since 2010, while the number of people receiving retirement and
disability benefits has risen by more than 7 million (The Washington Post). The
SSA's operating budget has shrank 11 percent from 2010 to 2017 in
inflation-adjusted terms, just as the demands on the SSA have reached an
all-time high — baby boomers have reached their peak years for
retirement and disability. Budget cutting has squeezed the
SSA's operating budget from an already low 0.9 percent of overall Social
Security spending in 2010, to just 0.7 percent in 2016.

While the House proposed flat funding for 2018,
the Senate Appropriations Committee proposed another $400 million cut,
nearly 4 percent of the SSA's operating budget, which would bring the
total cuts since 2010 to 16 percent after inflation. Even a small cut would have a noticeably negative affect on operations.

For numerous Americans, Social Security is vital to
their economic security and survival. A majority of America's seniors
rely upon Social Security. Without a guaranteed monthly income, the
number of seniors living below the poverty line could rise by millions.
In fact, the SSA reports
that 34% of elderly Americans receiving benefits rely on Social
Security for 90% or more of their monthly income. Statistics like these
are why Social Security is so important, and why current and future
retirees are eager to see this critical program protected.

But despite the importance of Social Security, years of
devastating cuts have taken their toll, leading to long waits on the
phone, in offices, as well as record-high disability backlogs. The SSA
has made cuts in customer service so they can operate under their
extremely tight budget, which has forced them to close offices, shorten
field hours, shrink their staff, increase automation, and reduce the
number of SSA statements they send. These cuts have hampered the SSA's
ability to perform essential services, such as determining eligibility
in a timely manner for retirement, survivor and disability benefits,
paying benefits accurately and on time, responding to questions from the
public, and updating benefits promptly when circumstances change.

These cuts are hurting hard-working people who have
earned benefits and paid for high-quality service. This money is coming
from workers' contributions to Social Security, not the general
treasury. And yet the funds Congress allows the SSA to spend, in turn,
count against the tight funding limits on non-defense discretionary
funding set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which were further
lowered by sequestration, also put in place by 2011 law. The BCA allows
additional funding each year for the SSA's cost-saving program integrity
activities such as continuing disability reviews (CDRs). The tight
funding caps required by the BCA and sequestration have been in place
since 2012 and have forced cuts in a broad range of appropriated
programs, including SSA operating funds.

Yet these efficiencies can't make up for the fact that
the SSA has an additional 1 million beneficiaries each year. Work loads
and costs are growing, while the SSA's budget is shrinking. This is a
dangerous combination. The SSA's budget has worsened by nearly every
metric. Further cuts will force the agency to freeze hiring, furlough
staff, close more field offices, and further restrict office hours,
leading to yet longer wait times for taxpayers and beneficiaries who
need help. This is a direct threat to seniors and the disabled.

The cuts would have been deeper if Congress had not
reached a bipartisan agreement to ease sequestration in both defense and
non-defense programs, starting in 2014. These temporary agreements,
however, only lasted through 2017. And the SSA is very unlikely to
receive adequate funding unless Congress once again reaches an agreement
to reduce sequestration cuts.

The problem is that the money may not be there. The Republican's tax cut plan
for big corporations and the rich will cause a projected $1.4
trillion deficit over the next decade (Congressional Budget Office).

We are glad to see Democrats make some effort to stop a totally
insane Senate Republican plan to cut over $400 million from Social Security.

However, this is not at all adequate deal with a national
crisis. At a minimum the SSA operating budget needs to go back to
where it was in 2010.